Cook Islands: Lazing by the world's most beautiful lagoon

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A deserted Raratonga beach

Some vessels are large and loud, so I opt for a snorkelling safari aboard the small and simple Teking, which takes up to 12 passengers. We make three stops to plunge into the warm water to admire dazzlingly dressed fish and purple table corals as big as bandstands. Lunch is served on a desert island, a feast of yellowfin tuna, okra salad and fried plantain laid out in giant clam shells. All goes well until we near One Foot Island, where you can get a souvenir stamp in your passport, and the boat breaks down. There dont appear to be any life-jackets and weve run out of water. There is beer, though, and someone wryly observes that Aitutaki is where they filmed the reality shows Shipwrecked and Survivor.

By comparison, life on Rarotonga feels almost hectic. The hub of the Cook Islands is dominated by a rainforest-cloaked volcanic core rising to 2,014ft, with a sleepy coastal road uniting its low-key beaches and reefs. You can drive the full circle in 45 minutes, or there are public buses with signs that simply say Clockwise or Anti-Clockwise.

For a taste of Raros rugged interior, I join Pa, a bare-chested and dreadlocked local showman for a three-hour hike across the island. Its a hot and muddy workout as we climb up to the toothlike Te Rua Manga peak, and a perfect antidote to atoll-atrophy. Contrary to clich, the South Pacific lifestyle is not all lazing around in Gauguinesque poses something that becomes clear when I watch a rugby match at Raemau Park. The islanders play both league and union in this case its the first, a lively spat between the Arorangi Bears and the Avatiu Eels thrashed out in 33C heat, with post-protectors kindly sponsored by DJ Stockfeed.

The crowds are relaxed and friendly, and this is one of many ways you can meet the locals. Time your visit to coincide with the Punanga Nui Saturday market in the capital, Avarua, when islanders and expats set up stalls piled high with tropical fruits, coconut-oil beauty products, shell jewellery, intricately woven straw hats and leis, floral crowns worn as headdresses. Up on stage, schoolchildren perform traditional dances to preserve our culture, as the MC says. You can experience this in greater depth at folkloric shows known as Island Nights, staged in hotels and dedicated venues, but the one I attend is unbearable. Even when sung in Cook Islands Maori, Una Paloma Blanca is a dreadful song.

If you want fine singing and flamboyant outfits, go to church. Attending the Sunday morning service at the whitewashed, tin-roofed Cook Islands Christian Church in Arorangi, I find the congregation are in fine voice and sporting Ascot-worthy hats. Visitors are most welcome at the 90-minute act of worship, with some parts in English and a projection screen translating the rest. While the psalms and hymns are familiar, the exotic flowers and terrific multi-part harmony singing add an unexpected richness.

Afterwards, a Lynda Snell-type extends an invitation to the Calvary Hall for refreshments. There is no hard sell, and the room is packed with families in their Sunday best interspersed with underdressed backpackers grabbing a free feast.

Outside the sun is shining on the mountains, birds are singing in the breadfruit trees, and the once-mighty of Arorangi are at peace in their well-kept graves. I may be 10,000 miles from Blighty, yet here I am standing in good company with a glass of tropical squash and a plate of homemade ginger cake. Paradise has been found.

A Cook Islands woman wears a traditional flower leis

Cook Islands: Booking, hotels and flights recommendations

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Cook Islands: Lazing by the world's most beautiful lagoon

Cook Islands: Booking, hotels and flights recommendations

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When to go

May-September is high season, coinciding with the New Zealand winter, when the weather is dry with nights relatively cool. December to March is hot with tropical showers. August and September are good months for whalewatching, key cultural events are the Te Maeva Nui Festival (July 28- August 4) and Vaka Eiva canoe races (November 21-28).

Getting around

Car hire costs about 24 a day through Polynesian Rental Cars (polynesianhire.co.ck). Scooters cost about 12 a day and drivers must first take a short practical test (12). You will also need a local driving licence (10), available from the police station in Avarua. A bus journey costs 2.

Where to stay

On Rarotonga, the Crown Beach Resort & Spa (00 682 23953; crownbeach.com) catches the sunset and has 36 villas and suites set in five acres of gardens with a pool, from 270 a night. On Aitutaki, the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa (31203; aitutakilagoonresort.com) is a 36-room, adults-only sanctuary set on a private island reached by a one-minute ferry ride. Go for the premium beachfront bungalows, from 300.

On Aitutaki, adults-only Tamanu Beach (31810; tamanubeach.com) has 22 thatched bungalows set in neat gardens with two pools, from 200, including transfers.

Rates drop if you are prepared to stay a short walk from the beach. On the south-west coast of Rarotonga, Lagoon Breeze Villas (22020; lagoonbreezevillas.com) has 18 self-catering units set in a family-friendly garden with a pool, playground, barbecue and laundry, from 125.

Rates are for travel in early December 2014 and include breakfast; minimum stays may apply.

Where to eat on Rarotonga

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As two nurses from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who helped care the first U.S. Ebola patient now battle the deadly virus themselves, federal and state health officials are trying to determine how to more effectively keep health care workers safe. This requires extensive training and the right personal protective equipment, also known as PPE.

There are a number of different PPE options that offer different levels of coverage and risk. More is not always better, and there are a number of potential pitfalls. Dr. Michael Reilly, director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at New York Medical College, told CBS News that many hospitals are wrestling with what type of gear to provide to their medical staff.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends health care workers treating Ebola patients adhere to the agency's Recommended Standard, Contact and Droplet Precautions, he explained. This ensemble includes two layers of gloves, a liquid-impervious surgical gown and boots, hair covering, mask and face shield. In most instances, the CDC recommends health care workers replace the basic surgical mask with a more protective N95 particulate respirator. This disposable filter forms a tight-fitting shield over the nose and mouth, and screens out 95 percent of airborne pathogen particles that are greater than 0.3 microns in size.

The respirator is especially important when performing medical procedures that may increase the potential for exposure to infectious bodily fluids.

"Aerosol generating procedures could be anything like administering a nebulizer to a patient, to intubation, or placing a patient on a ventilator, suctioning secretions in or around their mouth, performing a bronchotomy or lung exam or biopsy. That would result in a provider being very close to a patient and where you would have sputum or other biological fine particles coming into the breathing zone of the provider," said Reilly. "In that case, that's when you increase the level of respiratory protection to the N95 over the surgical mask."

This set of gear is tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the CDC, to protect health care workers from an array of infectious diseases. However, in the current Ebola crisis, this standard of PPE may not be enough.

"There is concern among health care providers about whether or not this particular ensemble is sufficient in protecting them against Ebola exposure," said Reilly as he demonstrated the "donning and doffing" procedures for standard PPE with his colleague, Jared Shapiro. "One of the limitations is some skin exposure -- back of his neck, collar of his shirt, hair -- potential routes of splash or inadvertent aerosolization of infectious material could come in contact with him."

This is why Ebola clinics in West Africa and high-containment medical facilities such as Emory University Hospital in Atlanta -- where two American missionaries were successfully treated for Ebola and where Texas nurse Amber Vinson was transferred on Thursday -- have opted for what Reilly calls "enhanced precautions for high-risk health care workers."

CBS News

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